Conventional data storage systems are commonly configured to provide mapped logical units of storage (also referred to herein as “LUN(s)”) for block-level access. The mapped LUNs typically include storage from physical drives configured as one or more redundant array of independent disk (RAID) groups. For example, in drive array systems classified as RAID level 5, block-level data stripes, each including multiple data blocks and a parity block, extend across all physical drives of a RAID level 5 group such that one data or parity block is placed on each physical drive.